This image was captured (actually a series focus-stacked) after fighting through knee-deep snow on a mountainside close to home. I hope I have done the image justice as just being there in the solitude of nature was so inspiring and gratifying.
Let me know what you like/don't like, how you feel it may be improved etc.
very cool no pun intended this is a beautiful scene and im jealous is no where near me. i might have gone a bit wider but i think you did a nice job.
Thanks, I appreciate the response. I do actually have another, horizontal image that is wider and highlights the upper falls more. I will try to add for comparison once POST is completed.
Here's the landscape version - which do you prefer?
I like the vertical crop better as it feels more frigid.
Great picture Alan, but - you know what's coming haha - I'd make it a bit cooler ;-) I found the challenge with snow and ice is to reproduce the texture, so I always try to get more contrast in the highlights, even if that means I have to turn the exposure down in post. Here's a (very sloppy) edit to show you what I mean. I also tried to get rid of that greenish tinge in the water, but there's only so much I can do with a JPEG.
Thanks for the time and effort you have put into this Thorsten.
I hear what you are saying, and yes, was half expecting similar comments.
I did experiment with texture in the highlights but wanted to ensure I didn't go overboard and wanted to keep this very natural - the texture does actually look good full size
Same goes with the water color - the green tint could be the result of the the pine forest that surrounds the brook.
This is all personal taste of course, but I'd be interested to understand what others feel.
I like the suggestions - the landscape version is better. In the portrait version I wasnt sure where my eyes should go. The front snow/waterfall looks soft, and I'm not sure what i'm seeing. Good comments on the texture-adding. It seems nearly black and white - have you considered rendering it colorless?
Thanks Darren. The front waterfall is actually water flowing over the forming ice.
I have considered B&W but I feel the image would lose out somewhat from the mood the cool color creates. I'll give it a try though.
Beautiful and somehow stirring image for me, Alan. I like your "post" - it all looks natural (and enviably cold, as we swelter here in Oz). It conveys the mood you describe perfectly. Well worth all your exertions! Thanks for sharing it.
And I prefer the original vertical format - it has a nice flow to the whole image, especially with that beautiful plunging foreground. It has an intimacy that draws me in. The horizontal one is good, too, but more of a conventional landscape.
Thanks for the comments Chris. After 2 months of winter I'd take the sweltering summer down under right now.